1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an improved ski boot and complementarily to an assembly comprising this ski boot and the safety ski binding associated therewith.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of ski boots are already known which are characterized by specific shortcomings. Thus, with conventional ski boots, comprising a sole extending from the toe end to the heel of the boot, which are used with a front abutment device and a heel hold-down device, it is relatively difficult for the skier to walk without the skis. Moreover, when a change in the boot size is necessary the front and rear safety ski binding devices must be readjusted in the longitudinal direction, and this constitutes a tedious constraint.
Another known type of ski boot comprises lateral elements adapted to engage matching lateral means of the safety ski bindings, as disclosed for example in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,349. One advantage resulting from this specific type of ski boot is that it is unnecessary to adjust the position of the front device and of the heel hold-down device; however, the same ski boot is objectionable in that the boot is not properly held on the ski, so that the skier's safety is more or less jeopardized.
In a third known ski boot design the boot sole comprises cavities or recesses engageable by retaining members of the bindings. Boots of this type are described in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,325 and also in the German Patent Application No. 2,359,309. These boots are likewise advantageous in that they make it possible to avoid the necessity of adjusting the safety ski bindings in the longitudinal direction, but unfortunately they are objectionable in that snow or ice tends to accumulate in the sole cavities intended for receiving the binding's elements, so that it is frequently difficult if not impossible to fit the boot properly on the ski.
Another known proposition is disclosed in the German Patent Application No. 2,308,535 concerning ski boots of which the rear portion of the sole is truncated in such a manner that a binding can be inserted under the heel, the mechanism of this binding being adapted to engage the corresponding end surface of the sole. The purpose of this particular arrangement is to improve the resistance of the safety ski binding to lateral stress, which notoriously has its maximum value in the rear third of the boot sole.
However, with the device it is not possible to dispense with the longitudinal adjustment of the ski bindings when changing from one boot size to another.
Finally, a ski boot structure is depicted in the French Pat. No. 2,092,519 wherein the toe and heel ends of the sole engage the front or abutment and rear or heel hold-down devices of the safety binding, respectively, so that the boot is so to say suspended over the ski surface. The scope of this device is to facilitate the slipping of the boot when it is necessary to release it from the binding, but also in this case a preliminary adjustment of the safety binding in the longitudinal direction is also necessary when changing from one boot size to another.